Winter, World Connections, Mysteries & LOVE!

First Graders have been learning so much about weather lately -- thanks to our wonderful winter we have been having!  We took advantage of these cold days and really put our weather tools to work.  We took temperatures outside and inside, we observed our windsock and even Skyped with our first grade friends in Chicago & Oregon to see how they were surviving the winter months. (They get to have outside recess if the temperature and wind chill are 10 degrees or above!!!)  Click on the few samples below of student's winter weather PixNTell slide shows:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d91cemjcfo77yu0/Awinter%20Day.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a89ma5ebolw8l07/Snow%20Day.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mi0xha8lxecjv8y/Winter%20Ellie.mp4

We have also been busy working on comprehension connections as we read.  Recently students read a story about Cesar Chavez and immediately make a "text to world" connection comparing how he worked to better the lives of farm workers just like Martin Luther King, Jr. worked to make laws more fair for African Americans.  They are getting so smart!  Students created slide shows using PixNTell to explain their connections. 

 Click on the couple of links below to hear/see a  few of our connections:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e1omm1hajt7w3th/Text%20To%20Word%20Coneshin%20With%20Mlk%26cesh%20Caves.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zerz7y3yqn60x11/Good%20World%21.mp4


This past week we also began to do a few "Mystery Number" Skype sessions with our First Grade friends at Grapevine Elementary.  We used the iPad app called SchoolKit  Math (100's chart) as we  listened to clues to solve their mystery number.  Then we got to give clues and have our GES friends solve one from us!  Great practice for all of our number concepts and a great way to practice at home too!

Last, but not least... we ended the week on a LOVE note!  We had such a fun Valentine's Day Party.  Thank you to our homeroom Mom, Angela Hall and all the parent helpers who contributed to its success!  We LOVED it!

Goodbye to January!

January was a busy month for teachers and students.  We completed all of our district and state required middle of year assessments.  And in the mist of all of that hard work, students worked on their PBL (Project Based Learning) event which was to create a USA table for Bear Creek Around the world.  We really hope everyone was able to come to that yearly event to enjoy all of the different cultures we are lucky to have here at Bear Creek!   First Graders focused on learning about America through a select set of symbols that represent liberty and citizenship in this great country of ours.   They wrote about their favorite USA symbol, created Pic Collages on their iPads and blogged about what they were learning using their KidBlog iPad app. They even blogged about a famous American -- Martin Luther King, Jr. and learned how he was a man that made great changes for our nation in a peaceful way.  Be sure to check out your child's posts on Kidblog on this link:
http://kidblog.org/MrsSimmonsClass-5/
Your child can help you navigate in KidBlog and please comment on their hard work!!

Here are a couple of pic collages showcasing our busy month of January!

Happy 2014!

January brings a very busy month for First Grade!  Teachers are  doing mid year reading, writing & math assessments on all students and checking to be sure all kiddos are on track for end of year expectations!  It will be here before we know it!  Students are also busy working on a huge PBL (Project Based Learning) activity showcasing America for "Bear Creek Around the World".  Be sure to come to see the big event this Thursday evening in the gym.  We have been integrating lots of state standards into this project -- USA Symbols, research, survey taking, data gathering, graphing, place value, patterns, skip counting, cooperative learning, listening & speaking, writing... and so many more I can't remember them all!  Big projects are always a great way to really develop first grade skills that students must have before entering 2nd grade.  I did put together a little (5+ minute) iMovie when the kids were creating a USA flag in small groups this past week.  We used this activity to introduce place value (understanding tens & ones) and we will continue working with place value for the next several weeks.  If your child does not know how to skip count yet by 10's, 5's & 2's to 120... please practice this at home!!! Yes - to 120 (that was not a typo!)   Enjoy a little patriotic love:

Holiday Greetings & Reading Comprehension Practice at Home!

The couple of weeks leading up to Christmas was a busy time for First Graders.  A HUGE thanks to our Homeroom Mom - Angela Hall - for organizing & implementing a fantastic Holiday Party for your children.  There will be a 2nd classroom party coming soon (February 14th) - so please lend a hand to help in some way when she contacts you all!  It will be here before we know it.  Here is a gathering of pictures & video made into a little iMovie for your enjoyment!  (Loving the iMovie app on iPads!)

Just a reminder that the first day back is January 7th for students (Tuesday) and please help them to return their Friday Folder (Red) signed by you!  Report Cards will come home Wednesday, January 8th.   There will be mid-year Reading & Writing assessments done during January during the regular school day (no early dismissal days for this testing session.)  Please understand that expectations and academics begin to increase rapidly for your child this 2nd semester of school.  Continue to work each night on reading and asking comprehension questions about what they are reading.  Your child can write out the answers or verbally tell them.  Some ideas are:
Fiction Comprehension Questions
l) Retell the beginning of the story.
2)Retell the middle.
3) Retell the end.
4) What was your favorite part - why?
5) Who was your favorite character - why?
6) If there was a problem in the story - what was it and how did it get solved?
7) Did you make any "connections" with this story?  (Connect to self, text or world?)

NonFiction Comprehension Questions/Activities
1) Ask your child to write/tell 3 new facts they learned from the book.
2) Ask your child to write down any words they did not know and to try and guess their meaning by using text clues or picture clues.
3) Ask your child to write their own nonfiction book about a topic that interests them.  Include "captions" for pictures.

Happy New Year and can't wait to see the kids again on January 7th!

Snow Days, Telling Time & Happy Birthday!

I know we will hate having to make up those Snow Days... but it really is kind of great to experience real "winter weather" down here in Texas!  I hope everyone survived safe and sound!  Besides talking  A LOT about snow, ice, sledding, snowballs, etc.   we did find some time to begin to learn about telling time both digitally and with an analog clock. We are practicing time to the hour, half hour and beyond on our classroom analog clocks, "Tell Time" iPad app, and good 'ol fashioned partner games with a classmate. Here are 2 short videos of students in action telling time!

Also this week we had a "dual birthday" - mine and Ayah's on December 12th!  I don't usually advertise when I turn "39" each year (haha!) ... but had to send out a big Thank You to Ayah's mom who not only sent in cupcakes for the students to enjoy, but a giant sheet cake for all the teachers and staff to have a slice on my behalf!  I never received so many "Happy Birthdays" before in 1 day!  Thank you to Ayah's Mom and everyone for making #39 (again, hahaha!!) such a fun day for us!

We have a fun and exciting week coming up and I will be sure to post on this blog over the holiday break.  I hope everyone has a safe, happy Winter Break - and to those of you who celebrate Christmas  - I hope you have a very Merry one!

Hello December!

It is still the season of Fall -- and First Graders were supposed to go outside on Friday (December 6th) to observe and take pictures of a late fall day around campus --- but instead everyone was home with our first Snow Day in several years!  WOW!  You gotta love Texas!    So, since I was stuck in the house all day,  I decided to play around with "iMovie" and created a little something from our Gingerbread Project.  Enjoy!

Students are learning to really explore the world around them and to group things into solids, liquids and gases.  They are learning to describe the "properties" of things around them -- (color, size, shape, texture, etc.) -- and this is an excellent skill to practice at home!  

We are also measuring items with non-standard units -- and we made a candy cane art project -- discussed how this is a "solid" type of matter and they used different nonstandard units to measure their candy canes. They took lots of pictures and are working on a slide show using the iPad app 30 Hands.  Here are a couple pictures of ways we measure in First Grade:

Students know that if they do not have a ruler or tape measure around that they can always use "units" of some sort to measure -- as long as the units are the same type and size!  (This is another great skill to practice at home!)

And here are a few RANDOM pictures from the week:

Thanksgiving Frame of Mind...

The beginning of the week marked our yearly Veterans Day assembly when we celebrate and honor our military past and present.  This amazing school-wide celebration was full of patriotic music, special speakers and past/present military visitors.  It was fun gathering together to honor the service and sacrifice of so many! 

Students have been working diligently preparing for our upcoming First Grade Thanksgiving Program which will be on Thursday Evening, November 21st @ 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria.  You do not want to miss this wonderful yearly tradition here at Bear Creek!  Certain things get put on hold as we immerse ourselves in everything Thanksgiving ~ which can be a wonderful thing! One of the sweetest things I witnessed was many of our girls helping out the boys with creating their Pilgrim Hats.  The girls hats were pretty easy and they were done quickly, and soon I saw girls just lending a hand to the boys and so many working together and helping each other -- it warms a teacher's heart!!!  I am thankful for the kindness and sharing and caring I am seeing daily in our classroom!

Our daily Thanksgiving Program Rehearsals have been going great -- and I know I shouldn't do it - but here is a "sneak peak" picture & (uncut) video from rehearsals.   In the video - the students were waiting (patiently) for all the other classrooms to get their places on stage and for Mr. Sampson to come.  The students just started singing one of our songs (no prompting from teachers!).  It was so sweet!  When Mr. Sampson arrived, he was a little mortified that they were so "off-key" -- but I didn't notice!  It was nothing but sweetness! 

 

 

So there you have it!  A busy week full of all things that make America so great!  We have an EXTRA SPECIAL surprise that will happen at the Thanksgiving Program!  Don't miss it!  See you Thursday Evening -- November 21st @ 6:30.  Bring your child to the classroom!!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!